Every time I come across and/or find great bilingual or Spanish literature; I feel is my duty to share it with all of you. Some of the titles I am informing you on this post you may already be familiar with, but it is never a bad idea to refresh our memory and re-read them. Some are classics, while others are just too amazing to pass.

What I love about many of the books I am sharing with you in this post is that they are written in BOTH languages (Spanish and English). When I share these books with my class, and depending on time, I may read them in both languages. Children truly enjoy hearing these stories! Also, the language in some of these books is pretty ‘reader’ friendly. Therefore, whether you are a fluent bilingual or just starting, there is something for everyone. Did I mention that any of these books could make an amazing gift this holiday season?

One more thing, I am not actually offering a detailed review of each one of the books I am listing. I rather compiled a short, yet super list for you to access and refer when looking for books that take the holiday season a step closer to our hearts. But, let me assure you that the titles I am mentioning here will not disappoint.

1- My favorite (and here I am bias because I love dogs): The Dog Who Loved Tortillas (La Perrita que le encantaban las tortillas)

2- Who does not love The Gingerbread Man also known as El hombrecito de mazapán

3-The classic ¡Qué montón de tamales!

4- Arroz con Frijoles. Need I say more?

5- La piñata/The Piñata

Do you have any bilingual and/or Spanish holiday/celebration books that are your favorite? I would love to know. Don’t forget to leave the titles in the comments section.

Happy reading!

Kelly

Photo thanks to Mish Mish

I love Sylvan Dell Publishing’s Fun eReader Picture Books App! The eBooks are a great way to introduce your children to nature, math, and science in a fun and entertaining way. I have used it at home with my own children and in my classroom, and both my children and my students loved it!

The eBooks stream from the cloud or can be downloaded to your iPad for traveling. There are over 90 books available, and best of all, there is a Spanish language option! There are also a variety of ways for reading the book too. It is possible to choose either the Read-to-Me, Read-to-Myself, or AutoPlay option. My kids love that they can listen to the stories and flip through the pages of the iPad stories all on their own.

The books are filled with beautiful illustrations and cover science and math subjects in a way that is interesting and fun to learn. At the back of each book, there are fun educational sections that enable parents and teachers to help further explore the facts and information covered in the book. The “For Creative Minds” section presents amazing facts about strange animals, faraway places, earth, space, science, and even math concepts. I especially love that the app provides parents and teachers with teaching activity guides. These guides contain pre-reading and post reading questions, activities such as word searches, vocabulary puzzles, and even map activities to help further learning.  The app even has on-line quizzes that can test for reading comprehension.

I love this app! My children are absolutely thrilled with the books and love learning about different animals, the ocean, and outer space.  I love that through reading stories, they are exploring science and math concepts. I have also used this app in my Spanish classes, and the students were very enthusiastic to learn and read with this fun app.

The Sylvan Dell Publishing’s eReader is a great way to make learning fun! The beautifully illustrated eBooks will captivate, entertain, and educate your child, and best of all, the stories can be read in Spanish too!

The Giveaway!

We are giving away ONE annual subscription to a personal eLibrary, a $70 ARV, to the Sylvan Dell eBooks iPad app Fun eReader to one lucky winner. The subscription will get you iPad access and also access through your computer and other devices at home to all the ebooks in the library. All you have to do is visit Sylvan Dell eBooks page, check out the “test drive” option and tell us what you like best about this app. Then, enter the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Editor’s note: We continue with our week of Sylvan Dell Publishing Spanish-language book reviews. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our GIVEAWAY for each book reviewed, but also the GIVEAWAY on Friday for a one year subscription to the Sylvan Dell eBooks iPad app Fun eReader!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

A grandfather builds a fort for his granddaughter using “six simple machines” in “La Fortaleza de la Calle Cuatro: Una historia acerca de seis máquinas simples” by Lois Spangler and illustrated by Christina Wald. Like all books in English and Spanish from Sylvan Dell Publishing, each story includes a non-fiction “Creative Minds” section with activities and informational text.

I was impressed by the quality of this book from cover to cover and although the target audience is ages 4-9, my 11-year-old and I enjoyed it together. As non-native speakers we even learned new words such as “polea” for “pulley” which we don’t typically use in everyday language around the house!

BOOK DETAILS

Title: La Fortaleza de la Calle Cuatro: Una historia acerca de seis máquinas simples

Author: Lois Spangler

Illustrator: Christina Wald

Ages: 4-9 years

Publisher/Year: Sylvan Dell/2013

ISBN: 978-1-60718-717-2

Price: $17.95

Website: Sylvan Dell Publishing

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one copy of La Fortaleza de la Calle Cuatro to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know why you think your child will enjoy this book. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

You can also enter to win one of the other three Sylvan Dell Publishing books we’re giving away, plus an annual subscription to its Fun eReader for iPad and computer devices. To enter each one, visit this link.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Editor’s note: We continue with our week of Sylvan Dell Publishing Spanish-language book reviews. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our GIVEAWAY for each book reviewed, but also the GIVEAWAY on Friday for a one year subscription to the Sylvan Dell eBooks iPad app Fun eReader!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

In ¿Hay alguien en casa? by Marianne Berkes, Zara Zarigúeya is looking for a home where she can raise her expected baby possums. The reader learns that some animals are diurnal (awake during the day), while others are nocturnal. Each animal has a different type of house that is perfectly suited to them: the bees living in the colmena so they can take care of their queen, the nido of the birds, high in the trees to protect the babies from predators. In the end Zara does find a home perfectly suited for her in time for her babies.

This was a wonderful book for my nature-loving kids, and compliments their lessons in school about animal homes. Whether in English or Spanish, I especially appreciated the vocabulary presented because even the newer terms were easy to understand with the colorful illustrations and detailed text. My four children (ages 5-9) and I highly recommend this book for elementary-aged kids.

BOOK DETAILS

Title: ¿Hay alguien en casa?

Author: Marianne Berkes

Illustrator: Rebecca Dickinson

Ages: 4-10 years

Publisher/Year: Sylvan Dell/2013

ISBN: 978-1-60718-7141

Price: $17.95

Website: Sylvan Dell Publishing

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one copy of ¿Hay alguien en casa? to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know why you think your child will enjoy this book.

You can also enter to win one of the other three Sylvan Dell Publishing books we’re giving away, plus an annual subscription to its Fun eReader for iPad and computer devices. To enter each one, visit this link.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

When I learned that Sylvan Dell Publishing publishes award-winning picture books about math and science in Spanish, I was immediately interested in checking them out. At 7 years old, Vanessa is enthralled by anything related to the ocean, jungle animals, space, the planets and how things work, so I knew the review book we got would be a hit.

The book is called Un día en la profundidad and this is what my daughter had to say about it: “I liked learning more about the animals in the deep. The pictures are cool because they told me more about what I was reading.” In fact, she was so impressed by the illustrations, that she made two drawings based on what she had seen and read!

Personally, I enjoyed the realistic images, the wealth of information and the impeccable Spanish translation. Each books comes with an additional educational section, which is perfect to continue the exploration of the topic discussed.

We liked Sylvan Dell Publishing books so much, that we’ll be reviewing — and giving away — all four of its Fall 2013 titles in Spanish as well as its iPad app Fun eReader this week!

BOOK DETAILS

Title: Un día en la profundidad

Author: Kevin Kurtz

Illustrator: Erin E. Hunter

Ages: 4-9 years

Publisher/Year: Sylvan Dell/2013

ISBN: 978-1-60718-7185

Price: $17.95

Website: Sylvan Dell Publising

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one copy of Un día en la profundidad to ONE lucky winner. All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know why you think your child will enjoy this book and enter the rafflecopter below.

You can also enter to win one of the other three Sylvan Dell Publishing books we’re giving away, plus an annual subscription to its Fun eReader for iPad and computer devices. To enter each one, visit this link.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish! This is the last week, so you have until July 31 to enter.

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

We all know and love Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, right?  So I don’t have anything to say about the story itself, but I asked my sons to pick a couple of their favorite books for me to review, and this was one of them. I will say, however, that the translation was done by the wonderful Teresa Mlawer. Her Spanish rendition of the story flows beautifully, and remains true to the spirit of the original. In fact, it is quite possibly my favorite book to read out loud to my boys. ¡Que comiencen los festejos!

   BOOK DETAILS

   Title: Donde viven los monstruos

   Author and Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

   Ages: 4 and up

   Publisher/Year: HarperTrophy 1963/Translation 1996

   ISBN: 0-06-443422-2

   Price: $15.27 on Amazon.com

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish! This is the last week, so you have until July 31 to enter.

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

Papelucho is a series of books by author Marcela Paz and it’s a children’s classic for all Chilean kids. Twelve books were published between 1947 and 1974 — it may seem outdated, but the beauty of Papelucho is that it is timeless! Papelucho is a young 8-year-old boy and all stories are told from his point of view in a diary entry style. He spends most of his days with his nanny, “Domitila” and he is a curious, observants and very funny boy.  There are very innocent and laugh out loud moments as he describes his world from the point of view of a child.

Papelucho was so much a part of my life that when I started blogging in 2010 that he was the inspiration for writing from my son’s point of view. For two years I wrote as my child and described a world as seen through young eyes. To this day, the series is still a best seller and ask any Chilean and they have great memories of Papelucho and call tell you about their favorite book!

BOOK DETAILS

Title: Papelucho (name of series)

Author: Marcela Paz

Ages: 8 — 100!

Publisher/Year: Editorial Sudamericana

Price: $5.99 Kindle version on Amazon.com

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

Have you ever found yourself wanting to teach your child that one game you loved as a child and played over and over again, but you just can’t get yourself to remember the words to the song, the rhyme or the exact details that made it so fun? Juegos Tradicionales would be the book to reach out to spark your childhood memory of all those traditional games your mom taught you that her mom taught her, and her abuela and on and on.

The author María Angélica Ovalle is Chilean and she interviewed several people from different parts of her country to find out which were the childhood games they remembered and treasured the most. The thought is that if several generations are fond of the same games, then these are the ones that tie them together and must continue being passed on to the future generations.

The 34 games in Juegos Tradicionales are definitely part of the Chilean fabric, but sifting through the book I found that most of them are the same in many other parts of Latin America or just have different names. Divided into “Los Primeros Juegos,” “Juegos con Canciones y Rimas,” Juegos con la Cuerda y de Manos,” “Juegos para Echar a Suertes,” and “Juegos Sin Rimas” you are sure to find much nostalgia that will get you more than eager to share these games with your kids.

The juegos I got excited about reliving?

• Mandandirun (which I knew as Matatero Tero Lá)
• El Vendedor de Huevos (which I knew as ¿Compra Huevos?
• Arroz con Leche

     BOOK DETAILS

    Title:  Juegos Tradicionales

    Author: María Angélica Ovalle

    Illustrator: Paloma Valdivia

    Publisher:  Editorial Amanuta

    ISBN: 978-956-8209-67-4

    Price:  $12.00

    Website:  www.la-libreria.net (Online store coming in August. For immediate orders, send an email to info@la-libreria.net) and Like them on Facebook.

Would you like to win this book? Head on over to this week’s giveaway to win a copy of Juegos Tradicionales and other unique books in Spanish from LA libreria.

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

Our family is in full summer swing – weekends at the beach, bedtimes stretched until the sun goes down. But nothing makes me long for Christmas like a book my in-laws gave me a few years ago, Los Reyes Magos de Oriente.

The book tells the familiar story of the three wise men, and how they discovered a shining star that beckoned for them to follow it “across the world,” as Lluis Farre writes. What’s unique about this book is its beautiful rhyme, in addition to the illustrations. The elaborate pop-up pictures feature Moorish architecture interspersed with scenes from the desert.

Go ahead and put it on your Amazon Wish List. Get it for Christmas, read it through Three King’s Day, and hope the kids don’t pull too hard on the pop-ups so that you can read it for years to come.

    BOOK DETAILS

    Title: Los Reyes Magos de Oriente

    Author: Lluis Farre

    Illustrator: Merce Canals

    Age group: 3-5 years

    Publisher/Year: Combel Editorial/ 2008

    ISBN: 978-8498253696

    Price: $15.55 on Amazon.com

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

ABeCedario de Plantas, one in a series of ABC books available in both Spanish and English, is written by the incredibly talented bilingual author, Yanitzia Canetti.

I let my daughter Sofía choose the theme of which Canetti ABC book to purchase.  She carefully contemplated each topic:   plantas, music, nutrition, animals or professions.  Her LOVE of flowers made selecting AbeCedario de Plantas easy.

ABeCedario de Plantas covers amapola to zinnia in rhyming and alliterative verse. I was really impressed and delighted to see these literary techniques used; they are difficult to find in authentic Spanish-language materials yet so very essential to preparing our soon-to-be-independent readers.  There is even a section about interesting planta facts and a glossary of new words. Canetti also includes both the hard and soft sounds of letters like the C (conejo and cielo) which gives this book a mami’s two thumbs-up for fostering important pre-reading skills!

ABeCedario de Plantas is much more than just strengthening literacy skills through science however.  Reading this book aloud is festive!  Rolling off your tongue, the words sing, make music, and dance in your head!  It makes for great family reading!

BOOK DETAILS

Title: ABeCedario de Plantas

Author: Yanitzia Canetti

Age group: 2-8

Publisher/Year: BrickHouse Education/ 2010

ISBN: 978-1598351194

Price: $8.99 on Amazon